Help us at our off-grid homestead in the Tsitsikamma, South Africa

Details

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  Description

  Hey there, we are a family of four Danna, Greg, Robin (9) and Sam (5). We have two dogs (Toby and Luna) and about 33 chickens. Simon (from Malawi) stays on the farm with us and he works Monday to Friday on the farm as the groundsman and general do-everything guy. We have a 6 hectare small holding in the Tsitsikamma region of the Garden Route. We rent out 4 hectares to the neighboring dairy farm and are busy setting up the rest as an off-grid homestead. We have done lots but there are so many other projects to do that we would love help with. We are working towards a permaculture/regenerative agriculture setup where we produce our own healthy food and share this with our community.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Teaching

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Interests

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Plant care

  

  Hiking

  

  Nature

  

  Camping
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We will offer the opportunity to learn hands-on about farm life, gardening, agro-forestry, building, caring for animals, and how to parent like a pro. We can share our knowledge of cooking and preserving, fermenting some foods and foraging for mushrooms or seafood depending on the season.

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  Help

  We are at the beginning stage of our life on our smallholding. We need help with setting up various aspects of the farm as well as general help with our animals and home. Here are some details about the specific areas in which we need help.
  
  1) Gardens: we have a traditional vegetable garden as well as an agro-forestry based food forest. We need general help with garden maintenance such as watering, weeding, harvesting, seed propagation etc.
  2) Animals: We have a setup with laying hens that needs some daily work (feeding, collecting eggs etc.) and we move them into new areas frequently. Our dogs love attention and walks so if you are into dogs that is great.
  3) Caravans: We have two caravans that we are wanting to set-up to accommodate guests, workaways or friends. There a few projects related to this, including some electrics in the caravans, basic shelves and general improvements and making cosy. There are gas stoves in each one that need some attention, and we would like one of them to have a decent kitchen upgrade, either inside or using the outside area as well. This would require some plumbing and building skills.
  4) Help with home: We have two boys aged 5 and 9 who love to get involved. Doing projects that involve kids is great, and
  driving, shopping and/or cooking skills are welcome.
  5) Water systems: we want to build a farm dam and so anyone with experience in designing and implenting a dam build would be welcome.
  6) Forest regeneration: we have a small corner on the bottom of the farm that would have originally been an indigenous forest at the top of a drainage line. The area is now mostly covered with invasive tree species. We aim to clear the invasive species and plant indigenous trees, as well as create a small pond in this area.
  7) Wind breaks: We would like to plant indigenous tree windbreaks around one of our pasture fields. This would entail some fencing work to keep the cows out, and then planting trees that we have in bags.
  
  We would love to host people, couples or families that have interests or skills that would contribute to any of the above projects. We are both working and spend only part-time at home on farm work. So ideally we are looking for self motivated and self-directed people who could work alongside us part of the time and with Simon or alone for the rest of the time. We have tools and materials for the building projects.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Afrikaans: Intermediate

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  Accommodation

  We have two caravans available, they tucked away in the trees. There is a shared ablution for the caravans with a donkey heater for the shower. Kitchen space is within the caravans so this is small, but we are working to make this functional. Campervan or camping is also possible for those who prefer this. Meals would be mostly prepared at your own accommodation for yourselves, with some shared meals at our house. We have a good organic garden from which you can get lots of vegetables and fresh stuff. We will also supply eggs from the chickens as there is often an excess. We also provide all basic cooking and staple food stuff.

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  What else ...

  We live in a rural area that is predominantly dairy farms and pine plantations, so it is very green and lush. We are close to the coast so there are opportunities for great walks in the forest and down to the sea (the coastline is rugged and no long sandy beaches). We are within an hour of some good surfing spots like Jeffreys Bay and Plettenberg Bay. Own transport would be ideal, but we would supply a vehicle for any family or farm related transport needs.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  Our internet connection is not fast, but is pretty reliable for online work such as meetings and streaming. Being in a rural area the connection sometimes can be slow and does go down every now and then.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We have enough space for a campervan if that is your mode of transport.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  My animals / pets

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